Uncle Punk

I'm a the hotel. Someone have Doc call me, I don't have his number

Ordinarily I would be all over this but I just don't have enough rear tire to make it to New Concord and back home without being on cords. I have an appointment to drop the bike off June 3rd for a new tire and to have some crash protection added along with a Bren tune. The Friday Marietta option is intriguing. I could trailer down for that. It's a three hour drive without a trailer so I would probably tow down the night before. Post up when you figure out where you are staying. "We haven't booked rooms yet" Are you traveling with family or bringing motorcycle friends to check out Ohio roads?

I love the idea of a trip like this but she will NOT ride on the back of my current bike. And I already know the answer for that is GOLDWING!

Everyone is telling me the carbon fiber wheels are giving it the feel of transitional control but I only have the '16 SXR to compare it too. I added a lot of extras to the '16 that surely add up to some weight plus there is a factory difference of 35lbs, there has to be at least a 50lb difference between the two bikes and possibly more. Another factor into the handling differences is the new bike is on sticky sport bike tires when I ran sport touring tires on the '16 XR. I can't find the correct gear to enter corners either which is messing with my head. I expected more power but what I really wanted was to allow some form of wheel spin while leaned over without having to turn off the ABS and Traction Control completely so I could feel some drive out of corners. The '16 SXR didn't drive until the bike was upright, I have that drive now along with the power and weight reduction which wasn't really needed. This is more than I bargained for but in a good way maybe. I'm going to have a long transition into understanding this new speed threshold and handling character. I hope when I get it all figured out and comfortable with what it has to offer the thing doesn't end up putting me in jail.

I have probably watched every RT video on youtube. While I was waiting for this new bike come in and not knowing when it was coming I was determined to be riding by May this year. The dealers didn't have a delivery date so I started looking for what else was interesting. That list was the Ducati V4 Rally or the RT. Sills had a used 2020 that was sold by the time I got a chance to go ride it.

Currently deep discounts plus a $500 manufacturer rebate on the Kawasaki ZX4RR get them while they are cheap!!!

Do you still have the GS? I can't keep up with everything around here.

Having a HD Roadking Classic for a few years even though it was twenty years ago taught me that weight wasn't something I liked. Which is why I haven't really wanted a Goldwing or K1600. The RT is 200 pounds lighter than the Goldwing which at this time 600 pounds seems manageable. That might be too much to handle when I'm 70 but that will be something time will tell. I do know that the weight difference between the '16 SXR and the '24 MXR is noticeable. I've already been looking to add a sporty car to the mix but don't have the room to keep a couple extra cars. I'm currently having a 1969 Chevelle SS restored that has been in the family since 1984. My brother bought it when he was in San Antonio for officers school, he sold it to my dad because he need money for college. My father passed in 1993 so my brother bought it back from the estate. My brother passed in 2020 and I inherited it in pieces because my brother had started restoring it. It's going to be a nice old car but won't scratch the itch of a fun back roads car. I won't be able to get rid of the car to make room for a fun car until my brother's daughter gets settled down and has a place to keep it.

The problem with that is it lightens up the front too much to make the quick left/right when you are bouncing out from behind the car in front of you. Plus it has a similar power dip although most likely won't be affected by it because 1st gear will put you fairly high up in the RPM range. ^One day this will be the answer.^ I have a GS or RT in front of it though. Hopefully by the time I'm done with this current bike BMW will have backlit controls, Apple carplay or android auto plus horsepower to at least equal the HD Pan America. Once that experience is completed I should be a very old man and ready to slow things down with a Goldwing.😉 I kept my last two bike eight years each so that Goldwing purchase might be an 80th birthday present to myself.

Wow! I wanted a rowdy bike because I felt the '16 was too restrictive and for now I have gotten more than I bargained for. I rode yesterday for around 325 miles, the last 175 miles of which had no restrictions so I was able to use the entire 14,600 RPM range. The bike seems so fast that I am actually using the built in electronic restrictions that are allowing me to comprehend the speed which things are happening. The last 2,500 to 3,000 RPMs in the rev range are indescribably more powerful than any bike I've ever ridden and I've had a ZX12R, Hayabusa, CBR1000RR plus spent a lot of time riding a ZX14R. I usually ride a pace that doesn't require a lot of braking into corners but this bike builds speed so easily that I found myself using the brakes entering corners way more often than anticipated. The extra bodywork with the downforce wings have a negative side effect of giving the bike a bigger side profile that allow the bike to be blown around an uncomfortable amount at high speeds on narrow county roads. I am going to have to find out better setting for the suspension because it's currently too jarring at high speeds on bumpy roads. This is going to sound dumb after I said all that but I definitely need to have this bike tuned. Not to get any extra power but to remove the HUGE power loss in 2nd gear. This is where most of the passing occurs on back county two lanes and it feels unsafe to pull out to pass in 2nd gear to be met with no power until you are halfway past the vehicle you are passing. It's unnerving when there is traffic approaching from the other direction. Also this is going to be expensive to maintain. 1,183 total miles and it has maybe 250 to 300 miles left on the rear. It's a 200/55ZR-17 tire at round $300. I was getting anywhere between 1,800 miles to 2,200 miles on a set of tires with the CBR1000RR. When I got the S1000XR I started getting 3,000 to 3,500 miles on sport touring tires. This is going to be worse than the CBR for replacing tires plus the stupid wheels are carbon fiber so I'm going to be paying for tire changes instead of doing them myself and taking the chance of messing them up.

Don't know if it's a myth or not. Some get by just fine ignoring the manufacturers recommendations and some have troubles getting engine replacements because of not following the recommendations. My new bike had some limitations, under 7K for 200 miles, under 9K for four hundred miles, under 11K for four hundred miles, no full throttle for the first 600 miles. I adhered to those limits except for the no full throttle recommendation. This allowed me to get comfortable with the new bike and discover it's capabilities progressively. I certainly found new limits in handling and setup for corner entry during each advancement up the RPM scale. I'm not saying that I'm right following the recommendations but I'm certainly not wrong. This has been a shit show among the BMW folks.

Don't look it's just poor rejected little ole me.

No doubt you made the correct choice. Sorry to hear about a kidney loss. That certainly had to have been a worrisome time, glad to hear that you are still able to enjoy life with a new bike on the other side. I did my midlife crisis 15 years ago. Make sure you don't leave anything on the table when you go through yours. It gets harder to do what you think you can do as you get older.

A little disappointed that you didn't go with the 400 but am absolutely sure you made the correct choice. With the 400 price and narrow focus it needs to be a side chic not your main squeeze. Congratulations! Nothing like a new bike to distract you for hours even when you aren't riding. LOVE that colorway!!!

Not my video but it is my bike. https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MLYxvL6ET/?hl=en

Kinda bought it from Joe. It was Pam's deal but Joe did the paperwork and went over the delivery process. He seems like a good guy that has really learned a lot about the dealership since he has been working there. He is a pleasure to talk to when I'm there and I always learn something from him when I'm there. Apparently he can ride wheelies which is something I wish I could do. If I could you would never see me with two wheels on the ground. He also races or has done track days can't remember. He and I had a conversation about track stuff when he first started in '18 or '19? I think he has forgotten about it or doesn't recognize me because I have a full beard and long hair currently. He has recently given me some riding advice and acted skeptical when I mentioned some street riding techniques I tell new group riders. I get the opinion that he thinks I'm just some old guy that can't ride well because I didn't want to turn off all the safety devices on my bikes like he does. Fucking smug young kids!

How generous but didn't you see? I just bought a new bike and am currently poor!

It has enough electronic controls to rock you in the cradle of nanny safety. I over paid for this bike just to have a bike right now to the extent that I wouldn't have bought the Competition version without these unique circumstances. I wasn't completely satisfied with my '16 SXR because of the over intrusive electronics so as soon as they announced this MXR I got on the list because it has two generations of updated electronics which shouldn't neuter the bike in specific scenarios. A few weeks after that I cleaned my bike up ready to sell and put it up for consignment at the dealership which was in July. I didn't ride last summer at all past mid July. There is a white MXR with the same motor, same electronics and forged wheels without all the carbon fiber, which would have been perfect but no one knows when they will be available. That bike would have saved $5,500 in M.S.R.P. over the one I bought just because I wanted a bike now to overcompensate for the lack of riding last year. I'm coming up on a return to work date in June from a five month leave of absence so I'm trying to get as much riding in as I can by then.

@Tpoppa I was just telling some people yesterday that I rode past the Big Muskie Bucket for ten years before I knew it was there. The curves in front of it demanded concentration so I didn't have time for sight seeing. We were on a ride one time and you were having some hand issues that wouldn't let you ride for as long as we usually did so we stopped there. Now it's always the first solo ride of every season for me to shake the cobwebs out. I'm thankful for that experience.

When I got my '16 BMW SXR all I wanted was the quick shifter/auto blipper because of my hand injury. The bike had cruise control and heated grips which I really didn't want or need at the time. Now I need them on every bike and a heated seat is on my list of next wants. I don't care if a bike has character or is too refined. I want it to be competent, I'll provide the character.

It's almost impossible to get over 84 ft/lbs with a naturally aspirated I4, that why they need to be revvy because they can't compete with torque numbers. I really don't know how this 201 HP bike is going to go through corners yet. The first 200 miles had to be ridden under 7,000 RPM then the next 400 miles had to be ridden under 9,000 RPM. They just told me today that I need to stay under 11,000 RPMs until the bike reaches 1,000 miles, after that I can use it at will all the way to 14,600 RPM. The amount of self control this takes is unbearable.

Can't get to 14,600 RPM with a thumper

I'm just more efficient than the Germans. No need for the spaces, we aren't programing here.

And if I was being too picky I would have been a dick and insisted on M1000XR Competition. I'm just sunshine and rainbows, not a picky dick.

First ride was to the bucket for break-in miles. Ended up on a gravel road trying to make my own detour around the water across 83 south of Coshocton.